THE MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS
(SHRI NITIN JAIRAM GADKARI)
(a) As per information received from police department of all States/UTs, the total number of road accidents and persons killed on National Highways (including expressways) in the country for the calendar years i.e 2015 to 2017 is given in the table below:-
Years Total Number of accidents on National Highways/Expressway in the country Total Number of persons killed on National Highways/Expressway in the country
2015 1,42,268 51,204
2016 1,42,359 52,075
2017 1,41,466 53,181
(b) State-wise total number of persons killed in road accidents in the country for the calendar years 2015 to 2017is at Annexure.
(c) & (d) The provisions relating to compensation for the road accident victims and their kith and kin are uniform across the country and provided in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.
Chapter X and XI of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 deal with third-party insurance and payment of compensation in case of injury or death. The provisions provided in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 relating to compensation for the road accident victims are uniform across the country. The Ministry has reviewed the compensation amount and substituted Schedule-II of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 relating to compensation amount under section 163Avide notification S.O. No.2022(E) dated 22nd May, 2018. As per the revised Schedule – II, compensation for:–
(i) Fatal Accidents:
Compensation payable in case of Death shall be five lakh rupees.
(ii) Accidents resulting in permanent disability:
Compensation payable shall be = [Rs.5,00,000/- X percentage disability as per Schedule I of the Employee’s Compensation Act, 1923 (8 of 1923).
The minimum compensation in case of permanent disability of any kind shall not be less than fifty thousand rupees.
(iii) Accidents resulting in minor injury:
A fixed compensation of twenty five thousand rupees shall be payable
Further, as per Section 165(1) of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, a State Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, constitute one or more Motor Accidents Claims Tribunals for such area as may be specified in the notification for the purpose of adjudicating upon claims for compensation in respect of accidents involving the death of, or bodily injury to, persons arising out of the use of motor vehicles, or damages to any property of the third party so arising, or both. Sub-section (2) of Section 165 empowers the State Government to appoint such number of members as the State Government may think fit to appoint. Sub-section (3) of Section 165 empowers State Government to regulate distribution of business if there are two or more Claims Tribunals for an area. Thus, the matter regarding disposal of cases by Motor Accident Claims Tribunals comes under the jurisdiction of State Governments. Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has inserted a provision in Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill, 2017 which inter-alia envisages the creation of a Motor Vehicle Accident Fund.
(e) The Ministry analyses the road accidents data received from the Police Department of the States/UTs and public the report “Road Accidents in India” annually. As per the report, Road accidents occur due to multiple causes such as use of Mobile phone, drunken driving/consumption of alcohol/ drug, overloaded Vehicle, poor light condition, jumping red light, over speeding, overtaking, neglect of civic bodies, weather condition, fault of driver, driving on wrong side, defect in road condition, defect in condition of motor vehicle, fault of cyclist, fault of pedestrian etc.
(f) The National Road Safety Policy outlines various policy measures such as promoting awareness, establishing road safety information data base, encouraging safer road infrastructure including application of intelligent transport, enforcement of safety laws. The Ministry has taken number of steps to address the issue of road safety. These based on Education, Engineering (both of roads and vehicles), Enforcement and Emergency Care. The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has constituted a District Road Safety Committee in each district of the country to promote awareness amongst road users under the chairmanship of Hon’ble Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) from the district.
In addition to the above, the initiatives of the Ministry to promote road safety are listed as below:
(i) Advocacy/Publicity campaign on road safety through the electronic media and print media to create awareness.
(ii) Issue of Guidelines for protection of Good Samaritans.
(iii) Setting up of model driving training Institutes in States.
(iv) Sanction of 22 Inspection and certification Centres for testing the fitness of the commercial vehicles through an automated system
(v) Launch of mobile app for highway users i.e. “Sukhad Yatra 1033” which enables highways users to report potholes and other safety hazards on National Highways including accidents.
(vi) Observance of Road Safety Week every calendar year for spreading awareness and strengthening road safety.
(vii) Road safety has been made an integral part of road design at planning stage.
(viii) The threshold for four laning of national highway has been reduced from 15,000 Passenger Car Units (PCUs) to 10,000 PCUs.
(ix) Safety standards for automobiles have been improved.
(x) High priority has been accorded to identification and rectification of black spots (accident prone spots) on national highways.
(xi) Ministry has delegated powers to Regional Officers of MORTH for technical approval to the detailed estimates for rectification of identified Road Accident black spots for expediting the rectification process to ensure safety of road users.
(xii) Guidelines for pedestrian facilities on National Highways for persons with disabilities have also been issued to all States / UTs.
(xiii) A Certification Course for Road Safety Auditors has been commenced in Indian Academy of Highway Engineers (IAHE) and 42 Auditors are certified.
(xiv) Free Eye Check-up Camp and distribution of eye glasses is conducted for truck/bus drivers operating on NH.
(xv) Removal of Liquor Shops as per directions of Hon’ble Supreme Court vide circular of F. No. RW/NH-33044/309/2016/S&R dated 06-04-2017 and 01-06-2017.
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